SunClan's Demise
by kat10089
Summary: Many cats, all tied to a single clan. They were all at peace for many moons, but now, their luck has gotten as low as it can get. With betrayals, deaths, and so many things happening that are beyond their control, what else can they do other than hope that they're imagining all of it? Rated T for violence, and basically anything you'd see in the books.
1. Prologue

Two black and white shapes moved slowly through the tall grass of the meadow. In front of them was a large black path, with strange things whirring across it every once in a while. Surprisingly, whenever one raced by, neither of them seemed to flinch at such a loud noise. In fact, these strange beings looked to be much tougher than expected, and not even the large and intimidating forest in the distance caused them concern.

Suddenly, another black white shape lumbered closer to them. But this one was much larger, and maybe even ten times their size. The smaller shapes were unaffected, or at least, they were until the beast let loose a cry so loud that the strange things were nothing compared to it.

Both shapes spun around, both screeching with a mixture of terror and anger. One of them launched forward, and collided with the humongous monster. It raked its claws down the large creature's side, but that only made it angrier, and the small thing was easily thrown to the side by the beast's large paws. The other shape quickly joined the fray, and did the same as it's companion, but with a much faster speed. The monster howled with rage, and rolled over onto the small shape, who yowled.

The other shape was on its paws instantly, and acted fast. It ran back over to the monster and leaped onto it, digging it's claws into the thing over and over. The monster stood up, allowing the other shape to crawl away, and began to shake furiously. With each shake the shape's claws became looser and looser, and it was soon flung into the air. The small shape hit the ground with a loud crack, and it howled in agony seconds before going limp.

The beast turned to the other shape, who had managed to get away a few feet, and began to thunder toward it. The small creature quickly realized that it would surely die if it continued to fight, and stood up with obvious pain. The tiny one began to run toward it's unmoving friend, picked it up, and fled to the distant forest, with the monster hot on its tail.

* * *

He opened his eyes, and was instantly shocked. Of all things, the least he expected to happen was _this_. How could he be in the tunnel, with the disgusting smell of herbs wafting around him? How could he still see with both eyes, feel little pain, and be able to use all of his senses? And most of all, how could he be _alive_?

"Oh, great StarClan!" Came a voice from behind him, followed by him faintly feeling something lick in-between his ears. A cat he recognized as Molecloud came into view, with an expression of pure joy on her face. "I thought you were dead! Most cats don't survive when they meet a badger, and if you had died from that, I don't know _what_ I'd do!" The she-cat leaned in close, licking him in-between the ears a couple more times. The whole ordeal was embarrassing to him, but he had to agree, the second he heard such a loud crack he didn't expect to live at all!

And then his ears flattened.

"What happened to Starlingfrost?" he asked. She had been with him when they met the_ thing_. Both of them were looking for herbs, so they had their heads down the entire way and didn't notice that the badger had crept up on them. All he remembered from the battle was seeing her being crushed, running to her aid, and then seeing her crawl away before everything turned into pain.

"You don't need to worry about her," Molecloud purred, turning to pick up a few cobwebs from her herb store. "She managed to escape, and said that the badger lost her on her way to camp. She had a few bruises, but otherwise, she was fine."

"Great!" he mewed. He felt kind of weird, like he was so happy that he could probably fly to the tallest tree, or give his least favorite cat the best piece of prey. "Can I go see her?"

Molecloud's head snapped around, shock plastered on her face. "No! Don't-"

She had answered too slowly, as he was already standing up. Suddenly, pain shot through him, and he felt as though someone had taken away everything he loved. One of his back-legs lost balance, and it caused him to topple over.

"My leg! It won't work!" he yelled, panic clear in his voice. He hadn't meant to shout, but all of his senses were screaming at him as if he was about to die. He turned to look at his leg, the one that had collapsed, and felt his heart stop.

A thick layer of cobwebs and other herbs he didn't recognize were wrapped around it. The only thing he could see was a small opened patch that revealed his fur to be matted with blood.

"What happened to it?" he whimpered.

Molecloud pressed up against him, telling him something that he had hoped he would never hear in a lifetime. "I'm sorry, but it's broken."

"NO!" he screamed, quickly getting onto his paws. He struggled to keep his wobbly leg still, and mustered enough strength to take one step. "It's not broken!" he frantically declared as he took another step. "It still works!"

"Stop!" Molecloud ordered, grabbing him by the scruff. She lifted him up, and then placed him back on his nest, forcing him to lay down. She held him down with her paws, struggling to keep him still as he kicked her over and over with his legs that still worked.

"I told you, it's fine!" he said, screaming the words. He couldn't understand what was going on. His senses were clouded with panic, and he just wanted all of this to be a nightmare, or at least StarClan giving him some stupid warning. He just couldn't believe that this was really happening, that his leg was _really_ broken.

The little light that shined in the den was blocked, and a yellow tabby emerged from the entrance. "Great StarClan!" she exclaimed, obviously referring to him. "What's going on?!"

"Help me!" Molecloud hissed, flinching from another kick to the face.

The yellow tabby quickly nodded and rushed over, and they both managed to turn him onto his belly. He hissed and spat for a few moments, only being able to see the moving ground, but soon discontinued his battle and let his feet go limp. They placed him down on an old and dried nest, and when he noticed that he could finally look up, he realized that they had put him in the prisoners den.

"No!" he pleaded, as soon as he saw that a boulder was blocking the entrance. He stood up, but immediately collapsed. With all the kicking, screaming, and fright; he had over-exhausted himself. All he could do was lay there, whimpering.

"This can't be happening." He whispered to himself over and over.

**A/N: I'm gonna just go ahead and say that this will be a weird story. Every chapter will begin with a new point of view, and seeing the same person twice in a row will be unlikely.**


	2. Chap 1: Say It!

**Allegiances**

**Leader: Hailstar, a light gray tom with white splotches and green eyes. (2 lives)**

**Deputy: Daisyheart, a yellow tabby she with amber eyes. _Apprentice: Applepaw_**

**Medicine Cat: Molecloud, a black she with copper eyes.**

**Warriors: Sandflower, a pale ginger she with barely visible stripes and yellow eyes. _Apprentice: Marigoldpaw and Buzzardpaw_**

**Firewhisker, a ginger tabby tom with yellow eyes. _Apprentice: Buzzardpaw_**

**Hollyfoot, a white tom with green eyes.**

**Sedgeflower, a brown tabby she with white paws and orange eyes._ Apprentice: Beepaw_**

**Starlingfrost, a black she with a white dash on her chest and copper eyes. _Apprentice: Swiftpaw and Beetlepaw_**

**Honeyheart, a light yellow tabby with copper eyes.**

**Apprentices: Marigoldpaw, a light yellow tabby she with amber eyes.**

**Beepaw, a light yellow tabby tom with green eyes.**

**Buzzardpaw, a brown tabby tom with orange eyes and a fully white underbelly.**

**Swiftpaw, a black tom with a white line that travels down from his chest to his underbelly with yellow eyes.**

**Beetlepaw, a black she with yellow eyes.**

**Applepaw, a yellow tabby tom with lots of orange and amber eyes.**

Her eyes slowly opened. Someone had called her name, and she felt the urge to hiss, guessing that it was a dawn patrol. It wasn't until her eyes rested on an empty nest, that she remembered.

Last night, almost the entire clan had been woken up by screeching and yelling. It was thought to be a raid, until someone pointed out that it was coming from the medicine cat tunnel.

Hearing that news had made her heart sink. After Swiftpaw had been attacked, only a few cats were allowed to see him. On the first night, Moleheart had told them that it was nothing to worry about, but when she saw how distressed the leader was when he left the den, she knew that Moleheart was lying.

And on that night, even though she didn't know exactly what was going on, her assumption was proved to be correct. Swiftpaw only acted in such a way when something bad happened to him. Be it because one of his family died, or something as simple as losing a friend, Swiftpaw would always have a strange set of emotions. She knew this, of course, because they were brother and sister. They didn't have any real parents, so they always had to look out for each other. That's how siblings were supposed to work.

A voice snapped her back into reality, and she looked towards the source. Embarrassment flooded through her when she realized that she had been lost in thought. "Yeah, sure," she said, coming up with the best possible answer to whatever he had just told her. "Anyways, what do you want?"

But instead of hearing an answer to her question, Buzzardpaw only frowned. "I said, 'Beetlepaw, we need you for something.'"

She flattened her ears, feeling her fur grow hot. "Sorry, I kind of got distracted." She rose to her paws, hoping that he would soon forget how she had ignored him. "So, what is it?"

"Follow," Buzzardpaw meowed as he turned. Beetlepaw caught him rolling his eyes, and instinctively she looked down at her paws. But when she didn't hear anything after that, she looked up, confused, and was shocked to see that he was already gone!

_Why am I so mouse-brained?!_ She hissed, quickly searching for his pelt and catching up to him when she spotted it. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice, but that didn't stop her from mentally scolding herself over and over.

He led her to a group of apprentices, and with a frown, she recognized them all as her least favorite members of the clan; Applepaw, Beepaw, and Marigoldpaw.

"Finally!" exclaimed Applepaw, causing the other apprentice's heads to turn in Beetlepaw's direction. "I wanted to ask you about something."

"Alright, what's your question?" she mewed, taking a seat beside Beepaw. She was amazed at how well she was doing with keeping the annoyance out of her voice.

"Is your brother insane?" Applepaw asked, tipping his head to the side.

As soon as Beetlepaw heard that, she imagined herself slamming her face into the dirt.

"No," she answered simply.

"But he was acting so weird!" Applepaw insisted.

"He's _fine_," Beetlepaw pressed, irritation already seeping into her words.

"But he was acting, really, like, disturbing," Marigoldpaw chimed in, giving Beetlepaw an apologetic shrug when their eyes met. "Sorry, but I think Applepaw is onto something."

Beetlepaw clenched her teeth together. She wanted to desperately tell them to just shut up already, but she couldn't. The tiny part of her that demanded that she kept her cool wouldn't allow something as foolish as that.

"I don't know if we should keep him in the group."

At the sound of that, Beetlepaw's eyes widened. She didn't know who exactly had said it, but based on how Marigoldpaw's head had snapped towards Beepaw, she guessed it was him.

"Beet," Beepaw continued, making Beetlepaw internally flinch at him for calling her that. How could he not say her full name after announcing something like _that_? Beetlepaw may not have liked any of these apprentices, but she couldn't say the same for Swiftpaw. They were the only apprentices left in camp- that was why Beetlepaw had gotten wrapped up in this. If Swiftpaw were to be kicked out, where would he go?

"-and he might be dangerous. What would we do if one of us were alone and he did _that_ again?"

Beetlepaw straightened, barely managing to catch the last of Beepaw's explanation. She quickly glanced from 'paw to 'paw, hoping to somehow figure out what to say next. She didn't want this to happen to Swiftpaw, of course, but she was stumped. It was four to one, or at least, that's what she assumed. After all, Buzzardpaw always sided with his closest friends.

"Sorry if this is all too much," Marigoldpaw added on to whatever Beepaw had said, giving Beetlepaw her usual apologetic look. "You can always think this over; we'll wait for your decision."

"No way!" Applepaw exclaimed, making Marigoldpaw look like she was going to jump out of her fur. "Beetlepaw is just going to say yes. They're _siblings_!"

"But," Marigoldpaw looked lost, and yet again gave Beetlepaw that stupid apologetic look.

"You shouldn't talk so badly about your clanmates like that!"

Beetlepaw sucked in a deep breath of air; it was the closest she could get to actually sighing. _Finally, someone is getting me out of here! _She turned to the source of the voice and-

Oh no.

It was _Honeyheart_, known by Buzzardpaw's group as the worst cat in all of SunClan. There was no possible way that she could win against these four.

"It's a disgrace!" Honeyheart continued, flicking the tip of her tail to the side. "Swiftpaw is hurt and upset, wouldn't you feel the same if something like that happened to _you_?"

"Disgrace?!" Buzzardpaw took less than a heartbeat to answer, already on his paws. Beetlepaw quickly noticed that all of the apprentices now had a glimmer of anger in their expressions. "You should stop being such a hypocritical freak!"

Honeyheart returned the same hostile gaze that Buzzardpaw was giving her, and opened her mouth the speak, but Buzzardpaw had already beaten her to it.

"You need to go away. No one likes you and we don't want you here either."

For a split-second, Honeyheart looked hurt, but her scowl soon returned. Admittedly, Beetlepaw felt bad for Honeyheart.

"You need to grow up," she finally hissed, spinning herself around before stalking off to the fresh-kill pile.

"And you need to get a life!" Buzzardpaw shouted after her, turning around with a huff as he seated himself back down.

After such a scene, the air was hostile. There was a long silence, and, surprisingly, Beetlepaw saw that even Applepaw looked uncomfortable.

"Honeyheart should learn that none of this is her business," Buzzardpaw half-sighed, half-growled. Beetlepaw didn't even need to look at the other apprentices to know that they were probably hoping for something other than this. "We could have figured it out on our own."

Buzzardpaw looked Beetlepaw straight in the eye, and she felt like she was going to shrink right as that moment. She internally hissed, wishing that her emotions weren't always so warped when around these four. Why were those two words so hard for her to say out loud?

"Do you agree with us?" Buzzardpaw asked. Everyone's eyes were now on her.

_Say it!_

"About what?" she asked innocently, but it wasn't even close to what she was yelling at herself to meow.

"Your brother!" Buzzardpaw hissed. "Have you not been listening?"

"Of course!" She was quick to say this, but not quick enough to think of an excuse. Buzzardpaw was giving her the most threatening look she had ever seen- causing her to avoid his gaze by looking down at her paws.

For a while, everyone was silent. As if they were expecting to hear her response.

"Say it then!" Buzzardpaw snapped. "Do you or do you not agree to kicking him out?"

"I don't know!" Beetlepaw tried to say, though it came out as more of a wail than anything else. This was all too much for her. She looked up for a brief moment, only for it to reoccur to her that _everyone_ was staring at her. What was she supposed to say?

"I need to go do something." Without waiting for a response, she leaped to her feet and sprinted to the Warriors' den, blocking out the noise around her in case she were to hear them calling her back.

She halted just outside the entrance, her heart pounding and senses clouded. But then, all at once, she was filled with a whole new emotion.

_That was so stupid!_ she hissed, furious at herself for doing something like that yet _again_. No matter how much she hated them, and how often they annoyed her, forcing out any argument was impossible! Beetlepaw was practically two-faced- angry on the inside, but a mouse on the out, and she was so sick of it! To her, standing up against someone was like walking through a thorn bush ten times. How could she-

"Are you alright?"

Beetlepaw blinked in surprise. She hadn't even noticed that she'd gone off into a rant until the voice, or Honeyheart, to be exact, had interrupted her.

"I'm okay," she finally said, glancing over to the left to confirm that it was, in fact, the yellow tabby that was speaking to her.

"Are you _sure_?" Honeyheart pressed. Although it was hard to see, Beetlepaw noticed that there was some hesitation in her tone.

Beetlepaw bit the inside of her cheek. Yes, Honeyheart was already getting on her nerves, but Beetlepaw didn't want to just get angry at her for such a simple thing. After all, Honeyheart _did_ stand up for Swiftpaw earlier. It wouldn't be nice to just brush her off.

_Not like I could, anyways,_ she instantly thought, her mind returning to some of her former thoughts. But, when Beetlepaw realized this, she flicked her ear. _Just calm down already,_ she told herself, not willing to let her aggression take over.

"Okay, I'm not." Beetlepaw, thankfully, didn't take very long to come up with an excuse. "I'm just worried about Swiftpaw."

For a split-second, Honeyheart looked relieved, making Beetlepaw feel puzzled. _Was she expecting a different answer?_ But, immediately after that, Beetlepaw realized why. _Oh. Maybe I looked like I was going to kill her or something._

"Thought so," Honeyheart responded. Despite the told-you-so response, her tone was neutral. "Those mouse-brained apprentices don't know anything, so ignore whatever they say." To make her point clear, she rolled her eyes. "I'm sure Swiftpaw's fine."

Beetlepaw took a deep breath, but froze instead of breathing it all out. It was nice to know that Honeyheart shared the same feelings as she did, but how could she just pour out all of her feelings to a complete stranger?

"I guess so." She wasn't very sure of what to say, so that was the best response she could make.

"But you don't look so sure," Honeyheart insisted. Her voice was already going back to that half-sure half-not-so-sure tone. "I can go with you, if you'd like."

"Uh, okay." At this point, Beetlepaw had no idea of what she was talking about.

But, thankfully, without warning, Honeyheart decided to take the lead. Beetlepaw hastily matched her pace to Honeyheart, who led her to the medicine cat den and ducked inside. For a second, Beetlepaw froze, but soon went in after her. For some odd reason, Beetlepaw's stomach was still churning.

"You can't. He hasn't recovered."

Beetlepaw walked in to see Molecloud huddling in front of a large boulder, with Honeyheart standing cautiously a few steps away. Molecloud's eyes shifted to Beetlepaw, and something stirred in them that Beetlepaw couldn't understand.

"But… I guess she can," Molecloud contemplated, looking over Beetlepaw as she said this.

"But," Molecloud continued, her voice turning stern, "Do not talk about his leg, and think before you say anything. It's very easy to set him off."

Surprisingly, that last part had caught Beetlepaw off-guard. She felt her stomach churn again, but this time she knew what had caused it.

_Am I really starting to believe them?_

"Do you promise to be careful?" Molecloud asked. Her words were still stern, but they were accompanied by a certain tone that made her sound as though she didn't expect Beetlepaw to say "Yes".

Beetlepaw simply nodded.

"Then go." Molecloud moved to the side of the boulder, shoving it with all her strength to reveal a small opening.

Beetlepaw looked inside, expecting the worst. But, instead of a terrifying beast, she only saw a giant, messy furball.

Beetlepaw couldn't help but hiss. How could she have been afraid of her _own_ brother?

Something nudged her from behind, and, instinctively, Beetlepaw moved into the den. She heard the same noise again- the one from when Molecloud had first opened up the entrance, and guessed that it had just shut behind her.

Beetlepaw slowly made her way around the lump, or, to be exact, Swiftpaw, and only stopped when she could see his face. As soon as Beetlepaw spotted that his eyes were open, he shut them tightly.

Beetlepaw thought, trying to go over ways she could speak to him in her head. But despite having so many things to consider, she was silent for far too long, and Swiftpaw was the one to begin.

"Say it."

Beetlepaw blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Say it," he repeated.

"Um, hello?"

"No!" Swiftpaw hissed hotly, "You know what I'm talking about."

"I really don't," Beetlepaw mewed softly, practically pleading for him to calm down.

"I know you're lying." Swiftpaw's eyes flashed open. His voice was starting to crack, lessening the hostility that he was obviously trying to show her. "You think I've lost my mind. Everyone does."

Beetlepaw was quick to defend him. "No they don't!"

"Quit trying to tell me otherwise, I know they do. The clan heard it all- and I doubt any of them will ever want to talk to me again." Swiftpaw buried his nose in his tail. "And I can't blame them."

"Don't be so mouse-brained," Beetlepaw retorted, failing to keep her worry out of it, "They know it wasn't your fault."

"How?" Swiftpaw growled. "Do you expect me to believe that you spoke to all of them? That they answered truthfully? That they weren't just lying to make you feel better?"

"No, but-"

"Just quit already! I don't want you here if you're going to keep lying to my face."

"They're not lies!" Beetlepaw snarled. Why was Swiftpaw being so harsh to himself?

"Say whatever you want- because I'm not going to listen anymore."

Beetlepaw searched for a response, but found nothing.

"F-fine!" she sputtered, having nothing more to say. There was a part of her that wanted desperately to make him feel better- but right now, the other part that was furious at him for not listening was overpowering it. She stomped over to the blockade, gave it a few hefty nudges and, finally, she was allowed to leave.

Without saying a word, Beetlepaw stormed past Honeyheart and Molecloud. She began making her way through the tunnel, but was forced to slow when Honeyheart tried to talk to her.

"Are you okay?"

"No!" There was no use in her even trying to lie. "Swiftpaw thinks everyone hates him!"

"Maybe he needs more time," Honeyheart mewed hopefully as they both reached the outside, "This could all be too much for him."

Amazingly, that simple phrase was enough to help Beetlepaw at least a _little_ bit.

"Maybe," she echoed.

"You shouldn't worry so much," Honeyheart went on reassuringly, squinting up at the sun, "I'm sure he'll be better in a few sunrises."

Beetlepaw smiled. Admittedly, this was the nicest cat she had ever spoken to in moons- other than her brother, of course-. It was no surprise that the dreaded four hated her; they had nothing in common.

"I've got to go now," Honeyheart said, breaking Beetlepaw's brief happiness. Meowing one last, "Good luck.", she curved around Beetlepaw and began to head for the Warriors' den.

Beetlepaw was almost distraught to see her go. Honeyheart was the best cat Beetlepaw could ever be friends with, and she was expected to just go back to her "friends" and forget this ever happened?

"Wait!" Beetlepaw hastily shouted, catching up to Honeyheart before she could go inside. Honeyheart stopped, and Beetlepaw continued, "Do you want to go hunting tomorrow?"

Even though Beetlepaw was behind her, she caught a look of genuine shock from Honeyheart. However, it didn't last long enough for Beetlepaw to question it.

"Sounds great."

And with that, Honeyheart went into her den.

"Why were you talking to her?!"

Again, Beetlepaw's glee was broken. She slowly turned around to see who had spoken; Buzzardpaw.

Her throat was already tightening.

"She's bad!" Buzzardpaw hissed furiously, lashing his tail. "Don't talk to her, don't look at her- don't do _anything_ with her!"

Beetlepaw couldn't say a word. She was frozen solid.

But despite her having no response, Buzzardpaw had no problem with going on, "You have _no_ idea what she'll do to you!"

"Clan meeting! Everyone gather!" another voice boomed, surprising even Buzzardpaw. Beetlepaw couldn't remember any other time where she had been this grateful to have something interrupted.

Quickly, while Buzzardpaw was distracted, she scampered over to the other side of the clearing, for once, eager to hear Hailstar's news.

**AN: Oh, boy! It's been a while, hasn't it?**

**To make a long story short, for a huge amount of time I've been effected by something that happened to me back in 2013. How did it mess with me, you ask? Well, I started to think that there was no use in trying to succeed in life. I basically only did things that made me happy and pushed away everything else.**

**But don't worry- a few weeks ago I finally broke out of it! And it feels great! This month I'm finally going to buckle down and finish my long overdue schoolwork and will do all I can to make my next year even better.**

**Anyway, since I don't want to delve too deep into personal stuff, this story has been through a lot in my absence. Firstly, I liked it enough to have it turned into a full story! Secondly, I started this chapter with only three new characters; Buzz, Mary, Beet, Apple, Bee, and Honey, (and even then only some of the four had finished personalities) but ended it with so many more! And to make things even better- they all have personalities, kin relations, everything! I've done a lot and this story is definitely not going to be cancelled at this rate.**

**And to end this, I'd like to apologize for how long it took to finish this chapter. I've been through a whole lot in these past few months (Oh, and did I mention that Beetlepaw was another reason for the delay? Her personality was a doozy to sort out.), and now that most of it is over I promise you that the next one won't take nearly as long- considering it's probably going to have about half the amount of words this one did. Thank you for reading, you wonderful people! 3**


	3. Chap 2: An Unexpected Danger

**A/N: I was in a really good mood yesterday so I finished this early. I was gonna save posting it for Saturday, but I honestly can't wait, soooo... ^^'**

"Do you think we'll find it?"

With Hailstar's announcement finished, the cats were beginning to scatter.

"Find what?"

Sedgeflower, Beepaw, Buzzardpaw, Sandflower, Hollyfoot, and Daisyheart had all been assigned to track down and get rid of the badger. However, even though it was a hefty sum of cats, Beepaw still didn't feel safe with going. After all, a badger's strength was three times as big as a cat's, which meant that any of them could end up like Swiftpaw if they were cornered.

Or maybe even worse.

"You _know_!" Beepaw pressed, shuffling his paws nervously.

"Oh!" Marigold exclaimed, eyes widening with realization. "Sorry."

"Its fine," he mewed. The phrase slid off his tongue easily; considering he usually said it at least twice a day when around Marigoldpaw. "I don't know if I want to see it," he continued, "And I don't think we even have enough cats to take it down."

"I'm sure you'll be okay," She mewed, pausing to smooth the fur on the tip of her head, "-Badgers are big, anyways, so that means you can easily outrun them."

Beepaw shrugged. He knew Marigoldpaw was trying, but it wasn't really helping with calming down his anxiety. He decided to just end it at that and let her think that he was alright now.

"Guys!"

The voice was coming from Buzzardpaw, who was sprinting over to them. When he stopped, he wasted no time speaking again.

"We have something important to discuss."

"But we don't have enough time," Beepaw found himself already saying, "The patrols are leaving soon."

"_You don't understand_!" Buzzardpaw huffed, stamping his paws impatiently, "Beetlepaw is in trouble!"

Keeping a sigh to himself, Beepaw nodded. There was no sense in trying to disagree with Buzzardpaw- because if he did, then he'd have some whiny pest trailing after him until he changed his answer. Even though it had never happened before, since Beepaw had never said no to him, he just knew that that would be something Buzzardpaw would end up doing.

"Alright then, hurry!"

Buzzardpaw was already racing over to some unknown location. In turn, Beepaw, who was unsure if Marigoldpaw had even gotten a chance to answer, obediently followed.

They were taken to a quiet area near the edge of camp, where Applepaw was already waiting. Beepaw saw Applepaw perk up when he spotted them, but Beepaw had a strong feeling that he was only happy to see Buzzardpaw, not them.

After all but Marigoldpaw were seated, she began questioning Buzzardpaw, "What's wrong with her?"

"She was with Honeyheart!" Buzzardpaw hissed.

Beepaw blinked in surprise. "Doesn't she know?"

"That's what I tried to tell her!" Buzzardpaw retorted, "But she wouldn't even answer me. I think Honeyheart's talked her into pretending I don't exist."

"Beetlepaw must be stupid," Applepaw chimed in, "She has to have heard us talk about her at least once. Who would want anything to do with a monster after hearing that it's bad?"

Buzzardpaw rolled his eyes. "Don't call her stupid, Applepaw. There's still hope for her."

"Maybe… We accidentally set her off?" Marigoldpaw added nervously.

When she didn't continue, Beepaw nudged her to help her go on.

"I mean, Swiftpaw _is_ her brother," Marigoldpaw began, shrugging apologetically, "It could take her a while to get used to the fact that he's not right in the head."

"Look," Buzzardpaw interrupted, "I've got to go soon, so let's just wrap this up. Try all you can to convince her that Honeyheart is trouble. And if you see Honeyheart do anything suspicious, tell one of us immediately."

Buzzardpaw sat up, giving a wave of his tail as goodbye before taking off. Of course, Applepaw trailed after him, leaving the twins on their own.

"You know," Beepaw said, relieved to finally get to speak his thoughts, "I bet Buzz screeched his head off the moment he saw her."

"Aren't you worried about Beetlepaw?" Marigoldpaw cut in. The way she said this sounded like she was trying to be angry, but it only came out as if she was terrified of having Beepaw rake his claws down her face.

"Of course I am!" Beepaw felt his fur grow hot. He had been so focused on Buzzardpaw, that he didn't realize how uncaring he was being to her. Beetlepaw was his friend, and yet all he could think about right now was how annoying Buzzardpaw was. _What's wrong with me?_

"Alright then." Again, Beepaw heard her use the same tone as before, except this time it was a tad harder to see the anger. "We should take Buzzardpaw's advice and help her. Oh, and by the way," she added, "Buzzardpaw isn't as bad as you make him out to be. Same with Applepaw."

Beepaw rolled his eyes. He wasn't angry at his sister, but this was the best way for him to show his emotions. "I don't know how you handle him."

"The patrols are starting to gather," Marigoldpaw suddenly noted, pointing with her tail to the entrance, "You should go."

"Bye, Goldie," Beepaw mewed as he got to his paws.

He started to pad towards the cats, hearing his sister call out to him saying, "Good luck! A badger won't be able to handle so many cats!" And, even though she couldn't see it, he blinked warmly as a thank you.

It didn't take long for the cats to set off. All they needed when he arrived was Sandflower, who was busy with reassuring her mate that she would be fine. Beepaw had been grateful to know that he wasn't the only one feeling anxious about this mission.

For the first few heartbeats, no one spoke, until Sedgeflower slowed her pace to meet with Beepaw.

"Are you okay?" she asked, keeping her eyes focused on Daisyheart, who was in the lead.

"Yep," Beepaw answered simply. Now that he saw all of them up close, the cats chosen to go looked like they would give the badger a hard time. All except for Sedgeflower, who had to come since Beepaw was going. Beepaw guessed that she wouldn't do upfront attacks, considering her size.

"You remember the signal, right?" Sedgeflower pressed, "For when things get hard to handle?"

Oh.

Beepaw hadn't thought about those _things_. Where the stars all crash down on you. Where you can't feel anything other than your oncoming death.

Beepaw's neutral expression changed into fear.

"Yes," was all Beepaw could say. Surprisingly, it didn't come out as shaky as he anticipated.

"Good," Sedgeflower purred. Her eyes were still looking away from him, so she thankfully didn't see Beepaw's reaction.

As they went on, Beepaw couldn't help but begin to worry. What if the cats had to scatter, but he couldn't move?

Beepaw could barely see the bright colors of the meadow through the trees.

What if there were multiple badgers?

The meadow's swaying grass was visible now. They were getting closer.

What if in the middle of the fight _it_ happened?

It was only a few fox-lengths away now.

The badger could kill Sedgeflower. The badger could kill Buzzardpaw. The badger could kill Sandflower. The badger could kill all of them in one swipe.

"S-Sedgeflower," Beepaw whispered. This time it _was_ shaky.

She didn't hear him. Their paws were making too much noise.

"Sedgeflower!" he whispered again, panicking. They were about to enter the meadow.

Finally, Sedgeflower answered.

"Yes?" she meowed stopping to turn to him. The other cats didn't seem to notice.

"I don't want to do this," he whimpered.

Sedgeflower blinked sympathetically. "Alright, let's go."

The she-cat took off right away, trotting at a pace that Beepaw could keep up with. Beepaw didn't need to be told twice, he was relieved to be able to get out of there.

"We'll hunt here," Sedgeflower said, stopping right next to a small dirt clearing, "It's easier to keep track of the mice."

Beepaw nodded. Thankfully, Sedgeflower had been silent the entire way, giving him a chance to recollect himself.

Beepaw raised his nose to the air. He caught the scent of a mouse, and, guessing by the way Sedgeflower was hunting, he knew that she was going after it, so he instead settled for a rabbit.

Using smell to guide him, he soon discovered that the rabbit he was searching for was easy prey. Even though he was still quite a distance away from it, he could barely see that it looked like it had an injured leg. It would be gross to eat, but it was prey, none-the-less.

Beepaw dropped into a hunting crouch, carefully beginning to make his way over to his target. The rabbit was clueless- appearing to be half asleep in some weird slouching position. Somehow, Beepaw was able to get over to it without any trouble, and the rabbit only ran when he pounced, only to be stopped when Beepaw's paws landed hard on it's back. Quickly, Beepaw sunk his teeth into the rabbit's neck, killing it.

"Good job!"

Beepaw blinked in surprise. He hadn't noticed Sedgeflower watching him- or even if she hadn't seen everything, then he just hadn't heard her coming. But, he wasn't really focused on figuring out how she had gotten there, so Beepaw gave her a small smile as thanks.

"We shou-"

Sedgeflower stopped mid-sentence, her eyes suddenly widening in terror.

Out of fear, Beepaw uttered a hasty, "What?!"

"_MOVE_!" she screeched.

Frantically looking around himself, Beepaw saw nothing, until his eyes finally met with the ground and he realized that everything was crumbling around him. Before Beepaw could even react, the spot he had been standing on fell, taking him with it.

Beepaw could only watch in silent horror as the sky began to fade, along with the sound of his mentor screaming his name.


	4. Chap 3: Home Is Better

**A/N: After posting Chap 3, I realized that the prologue has been misspelled for a while. Whoops. ^^'**

**There were also quite a lot of /these/ in it. To explain, the first 2 chapters were made in Wordpad. Putting Wordpad on here doesn't save _this_ and bold whenever you send it over, so I used slashes to help me remember what to put in italacs. The semicolon misuse? Well... I'm still not very well informed on those, so it's gonna take me a while to start using them correctly.**

**Lastly, even if you're just stopping by, it would mean the world to me if any of you posted your thoughts on this story. Polite critiques will also be appreciated! :)**

* * *

"There's nothing here," Sandflower reported.

"Are you _sure_?" Daisyheart inquired, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course!" Sandflower exclaimed, finding it hard not to snort. "I've checked it at least three times."

Daisyheart looked unsettled for a few moments, before the usual nonchalantness she carried returned.

"Fine."

"And the others have checked three times too," Sandflower scolded, "the badger isn't here."

Daisyheart rolled her eyes. "You need to remember that _I'm_ deputy."

"And_ I'm_ the best queen this clan has ever had," Sandflower noted, raising her tail.

"I think you mean elder," Daisyheart scoffed.

"Maybe eventually," Sandflower meowed, showing mock innocence, "and when you're leader, the kits will always come to me and ask of how my dear sister was such a grouchy furball."

Daisyheart huffed, looking the other way.

Sandflower frowned. Her sister certainly _was_ a grouchy furball. Couldn't she take a joke for once?

Sandflower stared at Daisyheart, as if she was expecting her to answer, but eventually gave up and trotted away to find the other badger hunters. Since Daisyheart was being so stubborn, it was up to her to take charge. Their enemy was obviously not here, so there was no sense in continuing a lost cause.

Sandflower's first choice was Hollyfoot. Out of all cats, she presumed that he had the oddest scent, so it would be easy for her to find him.

Following the trail exactly, she eventually came to a halt when it abruptly ended. Looking around confusedly, she assumed that it was just a mistake on her part, until she caught sight of white fur poking out from underground.

Alarmed, she moved swiftly over to it, only to be relieved when she realized that he wasn't buried alive. Instead, he was under an overhanging patch of ground, curled up with his nose buried in the dirt.

She frowned. "What are you doing?"

The tom's head jerked up, but he didn't turn to look at her. "I'm sniffing for badgers."

"In this tiny spot?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side. "That barely even fits _you_."

"Better to be safe than sorry," he said, getting up to stand beside her. "Now, since you're_ so_ concerned about _me_, why aren't you looking for it?"

Sandflower nearly rolled her eyes, but upon catching a faint gleam of playfulness in his eyes, she instead hissed. "Daisyheart is being stubborn," she meowed before adding on a quick, "And stop mooning after me!"

"Mooning?" he pouted, tilting his head to the side. "I don't see how being nice automatically means I'm after you."

Sandflower gritted her teeth. "Good," was all that she could think of to say. The thought of Hollyfoot falling in love with was almost sickening – especially considering how he was already the father to one kit and a possible father to two others.

"What's gotten under Daisyheart's fur?" Hollyfoot asked, breaking the silence. "Has all this responsibility gotten to her head?"

"Likely," Sandflower said, trying to keep her voice lighthearted. She was relieved to know that he had already dropped the whole "mooning" subject.

"Find anything?" a voice interrupted from behind them.

Sandflower didn't need to turn around to look, recognizing who it belonged to instantly. "No, we're just leaving."

"Did the badger leave?" Buzzardpaw asked, padding up to sit by Hollyfoot. The lack of worry and hope carried in his tone was surprising to Sandflower. Did he not care about his clanmates at all?

Shaking her head, she shoved the thought away. She had already been quick to judge with Hollyfoot – and she definitely wasn't going to accidentally misinterpret Buzzardpaw, too.

"Let's go," Sandflower finally mewed. As soon as she said that, Buzzardpaw got back on his feet, allowing Sandflower to lead them all back over to Daisyheart.

"You've all checked in every spot?" Probed a frowning Daisyheart at their arrival. Buzzardpaw and Sandflower both nodded in response, while Hollyfoot was too busy looking in the other direction to notice.

With a gusty sigh, Daisyheart begrudgingly nodded. "Fine, fine," she muttered, wordlessly turning and running off into the forest. The group followed after her as quickly as possible, and Sandflower wondered if they were just as confused as she was.

* * *

When the camp came into their view, Buzzardpaw ran ahead of them and went inside first. But when the rest of the patrol got their turn, the very few cats outside were already swarming over to greet them. Surprisingly, the only one that came to Sandflower was Firewhisker, who wanted to see if she was alright. On the other paw, from front to side, Daisyheart was surrounded. Even though they were only asking one question at a time, Daisyheart looked like she thought they were asking a million. Sandflower noticed that even Hollyfoot looked uncomfortable, as he was already backing out through the bracken.

"Enough!" Daisyheart eventually shouted. There was a sharp edge to her tone - so obvious that it shocked Sandflower.

_You'd think that a deputy would know to keep their cool, _Sandflower thought, irritation settling in her. Daisyheart shouldn't have been this furious over losing sight of a badger. They'd find it eventually, and they would get rid of it, no questions asked. She wished that Daisyheart could relax for once.

"I'm going to speak with Hailstar about this," Daisyheart growled, shoving her way through the crowd.

As if they were on cue, the group disassembled. Only a few cats stayed behind – Marigoldpaw, who was concerned over where her brother was, and Firewhisker.

"Is she alright?" Firewhisker worried. In response, Sandflower rested her tail on his shoulder.

"She'll be calm by sunset," she meowed reassuringly, despite not being sure of these words herself. There were countless times where her sister had held a grudge for several days. "It's probably just a deputy instinct."

But, she couldn't just allow Firewhisker to drown in his worries. It wouldn't be the right thing to do.

Firewhisker believed her. "I hope. We can't let our own deputy be taken to the Medicine Cat tunnel all because she worried too much."

Sandflower rolled her eyes dramatically. "I don't think a few sneezes worth of anxiety automatically means she's going to end up like that."

Thankfully, Firewhisker didn't take the former conversation very further. With the most kit-like eyes Sandflower had ever seen, Firewhisker whimpered. "You don't have to be so mean."

Sandflower had to slap her tail over her own mouth to stifle her laughter. How was he so good at that? "Newborns shouldn't complain," she teased, removing her tail a few heartbeats before she spoke.

* * *

Sandflower took a small bite out of the ash colored squirrel, quickly passing it back over to Molecloud, who copied her, pushing it over to Firewhisker. Above them, the sun was beginning to lower, accompanied by various hues surrounding it. After Daisyheart stormed off, Sandflower hadn't seen her leave Hailstar's den at all. Although she was curious about what was taking so long, she knew it would be a bad idea to bother them. And so, along with a few others, she waited patiently for the news to arrive.

Before she knew it, the squirrel they were eating had turned into scraps. Molecloud gently pushed what was left to Sandflower, who, in response, only sent it back. "You can have the rest," Sandflower offered, washing her muzzle with one of her paws

"You want it?" Molecloud cheerfully asked, nudging Firewhisker.

When Firewhisker didn't respond, Sandflower turned to him, confused. With wide eyes, she immediately noticed that most of his fur was bristling. "What?"

Thankfully, this time, Firewhisker answered. "Did you see that?!" he hissed.

"See what?" A muffled Molecloud chimed in, swallowing the rest of the squirrel she had in her mouth.

Sandflower searched the clearing for what he was talking about, and discovered that Daisyheart was now lingering around on one side of camp. Both relieved and annoyed, she sighed. "What about her?"

"She just brushed off Marigoldpaw like she was crowfood!" Firewhisker growled.

Sandflower blinked in surprise. Of all cats, Daisyheart was the person she least expected to be rude to a cat she raised herself. But, in spite of that, she defended her sister. "She's probably busy."

Firewhisker lashed this tail. Beside him, Molecloud was quietly burying the remains of their fresh-kill.

"Being busy doesn't matter," Firewhisker meowed angrily. "That's her kit! There are no excuses for her doing that. It's like abandoning them when they need to be comforted – or even worse, hating her own offspring!"

Sandflower flinched. She was used to Firewhisker getting overly defensive when it came to kits, but that last part made her feel like she had just stepped on a thousand thorns all at once. Molecloud noticed this, but she only met Sandflower's eyes with a sad shrug, then looked away, not bothering to question it.

After that, there was an awkward silence that was almost painful for Sandflower to have to sit through. Firewhisker was too busy to realize it, Sandflower noted, seeing that his fur was still spiked and he was still glaring at Daisyheart. Molecloud was uncomfortably shuffling her paws.

Finally, Molecloud stopped the break between speaking. "I should go check up on Swiftpaw," was all she meowed, unfortunately leaving Sandflower behind to deal with this herself.

It took Sandflower a few heartbeats, but she eventually had enough of this. "Let's go talk to Marigoldpaw," she suggested, breaking Firewhisker out of his trance.

He blinked several times, quickly responding with a, "Huh? – Oh, okay."

Sandflower rolled her eyes. Although this time, she wasn't sure on whether or not it was out of annoyance.

–

It didn't take long for them to find and pad over to Marigoldpaw. She was still in the clearing, but looked as uneasy as a hare.

Sandflower was about to speak first, but Firewhisker beat her to it. "Anything wrong?"

"Have you seen Sedgeflower and Beepaw?" Marigoldpaw hesitantly asked, directing her question to Sandflower.

"He left the patrol just before we made it to the meadow," Sandflower answered, pointing her tail to the bracken entrance.

"I know, but," Marigoldpaw meowed back, giving Sandflower a look that she couldn't understand. "They never came back."

"Are you _sure_?" Sandflower pressed.

Marigoldpaw nodded.

Sandflower quickly glanced around the clearing, confirming that neither of the cats were outside of their dens.

"Beepaw must be in trouble!" Firewhisker exclaimed, lowering his voice to a whisper. "We have to go look for them!"

Marigoldpaw's eyes brightened. She nodded again, but this time it was in agreement.

Sandflower shrugged, looking up at the sky. "Sure, but we need to hurry before it gets too dark."

* * *

Already, Sandflower was beginning to wish that they had saved this for the morning. They had been out long enough for the moon to begin rising, and even though they had searched nearly half of the territory, none of them had spotted Beepaw or Sedgeflower's pelts.

Finally, Sandflower was beginning to understand their concern. She had assumed that they had gone on a long hunting trip, but by now, she knew that something must have gone wrong. Who would even consider prey-hunting all day in the middle of Greenleaf?

_Hollykit, Poppykit, Tansykit, Foxkit… _To get her mind off of her aching paws, Sandflower was trying her best to keep herself lost in thought. Because of how long this was taking, Sandflower was starting to miss Firewhisker's constant questioning to Marigoldpaw. At times, it did get annoying, but she knew that it would be a million times better than adding to her list of favorite kit names.

As they trekked on, Sandflower continued her game. _Morningkit, Sootkit…_

She looked back up at the moon. It was a lot higher than it was when she last looked. _Robinkit… _The names were getting harder and harder to think up.

_Sandykit..? _With a frown, she returned her attention back to the group. Looking closer at them, she wondered if they were as bored as her. Or tired. Either way, she didn't want to be here.

_Blazekit, Burntkit…_

Suddenly, Sandflower saw something up ahead. She couldn't pinpoint what it was, but it looked darker than the rest of the forest.

Passing it off as a heavily shaded area, she tried to get a little more entertainment out of her idea.

_No, Burntkit would be cruel…_

Now that they were getting closer to it, Sandflower couldn't help but gaze up to see how many tangled branches there were. Surprisingly, there were almost none. She looked back down to the oddly shaded part, squinting to try and get a better look at it.

However, her new way of looking at it didn't help at all. She stared at it for a few more moments, until something clicked. There was definitely something wrong with it.

"Stop!" she howled. Immediately, the two in front did.

"What?" Firewhisker cried, spinning around. Marigoldpaw did so as well, but it was in more of a panicked manner.

Realizing that she had overreacted, Sandflower suddenly felt embarrassed. "That thing up ahead looks really weird."

Firewhisker relaxed, but Sandflower could tell that he was holding back a scowl. "Why don't we go check it out then?"

Turning back to his former position, Firewhisker briskly trotted ahead of them. Sandflower watched him uncertainly before taking off. Beside her, Marigoldpaw tried her best to keep their paces matched, her fur still ruffled from shock.

When both cats began to catch up, Sandflower realized that Firewhisker had stopped just beside the object, almost all of his fur now spiked up. At the sight of this, she moved faster, pausing right by him to finally get a better look at whatever had spooked her.

Sandflower nearly gasped when she saw it. Just a few whisker-lengths away was the largest hole she had ever seen. It was roughly the size of 3 badgers, but deeper than the tallest oak tree she had found so far. In fact, Sandflower had no idea how deep this was, considering part of it was consumed by darkness.

Then, out of nowhere, Marigoldpaw shrieked. Hearing this made Sandflower jump quite a few pawsteps back. "SEDGEFLOWER!"

Shivering, Sandflower barely managed to force out a demand, "Where?!"

"Look," Marigoldpaw whimpered, backing away from the chasm as if it were going to swallow her up at any moment. With a sudden feeling of fear, Sandflower saw that Marigoldpaw was shaking harder than she was.

Forcing the courage to look in again, Sandflower hesitantly stepped back into place. This time, she noted that there were several ledges on the sides that she hadn't seen before.

Glancing from one to another, Sandflower saw nothing. Not willing to just give up, she looked closer, and near the bottom, she finally saw it.

Sandflower's jaw gaped. Barely hanging on one of the ledges was the body of a brown tabby.

Sedgeflower was dead.

Sandflower stepped back until she couldn't see the insides of the hole anymore. It was as if, just by seeing Sedgeflower, she had gained the worst possible greencough you could get.

Sandflower couldn't think of what to do. Where did this come from? How did she fall in? Why did it attack Sedgeflower? Could this happen to them?

All of this was making Sandflower feel worse. She didn't know how, but now it felt like she had three illnesses all at once.

Timidly, she tried to see what the others were doing. Marigoldpaw continued to shudder, but she still had enough will to keep scanning the hole. Firewhisker, on the other paw, appeared to be frozen in place. Sandflower couldn't tell on whether or not his eyes were still moving.

Meekly gazing down at her paws, Sandflower tried to recollect herself. Sedgeflower was dead, Beepaw was still missing, there was a badger on the loose, and now they had a giant monster to worry about. She couldn't move, the others were just as terrified as she was, and…

She wanted to go home.


End file.
